[dcomp]

Also when I was in academia (masters). If my university didn't subscribe to a journal (and it wasn't available via an inter-library loan (In the UK you can ask for a journal from another university)). I would just shoot an email to the author asking for a copy

Edit: Actually I usually sent emails even when we did have a hard copy but no online access. Just because I couldn't be bothered to find the physical copy

[jowsie]

The issue with this is the authors of some papers either don't respond or simply aren't alive anymore.

[daotoad]

It also scales really badly.

If a paper becomes prominent and many people want to read it, is it reasonable for the authors to be inundated with hundreds of requests for a copy?

What is the point of journals if we rely on word of mouth interactions to share information?

[pradn]

In the humanities, authors often upload to Academia.EDU. It doesn't seem to have as much use among scientists.